Every account opened and every payment sent is a bet that the person on the other end is real. In this episode of Inside the Signal, Sigma360 CEO Stuart Jones, Jr. sits down with Chris Harrison, CEO of Fideo Intelligence, to talk about why fraud, identity verification and AML can no longer be treated as separate problems, and how real-time intelligence helps firms fight back.
Chris shares how three decades of building large-scale data architectures led him to identity, and explains how Fideo's patented entity resolution technology turns fragments of digital signal into a clear picture of who is real. From there, the conversation covers how AI is giving criminals more speed, adaptability and scale, including the overseas scam compounds targeting US consumers, and why institutions need continuous monitoring and shared intelligence to keep up.
Stuart and Chris also talk about how Sigma360's open-source intelligence and Fideo's identity graph work together to expose hidden relationships during vendor onboarding, why better intelligence means less friction for good customers, and what the next 12 to 18 months could look like as AI agents begin acting on behalf of businesses and consumers.
Key Takeaways & Discussion Highlights
Identity, fraud and AML are one problem. Scams often start with phishing or malware, lead to account takeover, and only later show up as fraud or money laundering. "Oftentimes the institutions are looking at the problem way down the line from where it actually started."
AI gives criminals speed, adaptability and scale. Scam operations that once depended on people working phones and chats can now be automated. "Now you can agentify that." Some of the people working in these compounds are trafficking victims themselves.
Fight on the same terms. Legacy approaches, such as verifying identity up front and screening against watch lists periodically, are episodic. Beating criminals requires real-time decisions, a view wider than your own four walls, and continuous monitoring.
Shared intelligence closes the gaps. Fraudsters hop from institution to institution looking for the lowest barrier to entry. "They know your checklist." Private-to-private and public-to-private information sharing, including anonymous matching, helps firms act on what others have already seen.
Network intelligence reveals what standard checks miss. A vendor can pass every registration, address and ID check and still have connections to sanctioned or politically exposed individuals. Combining identity graphs with OSINT surfaces those relationships.
Better intelligence reduces friction. Validating a change, such as a new phone number, against signals in the network lets trusted customers through, and sub-second, API-based responses keep the experience smooth for legitimate users.
Agents will need monitoring too. As businesses begin working through agentified layers, monitoring has to cover not just people, but the behavior of the agents acting on their behalf.
Episode Timestamps
- 00:00 – Cold Open: Where Does Identity End and Financial Crime Begin?
- 00:42 – Introduction of Chris Harrison, CEO of Fideo Intelligence
- 01:36 – Chris's Path: Three Decades of Data Architecture
- 02:27 – The Identity Graph and Entity Resolution
- 03:48 – Looking Globally to Protect US Institutions
- 04:21 – Why Identity, Fraud and AML Are One Problem
- 06:00 – Signal vs. Fragments: Resolving Identity
- 07:48 – How AI and Agents Are Changing Fraud
- 09:12 – Inside the Overseas Scam Compounds
- 10:17 – The Scam Economy and Why Victims Stay Silent
- 12:00 – Fighting Back: Speed, Scale and Adaptation
- 13:24 – From Episodic Checks to Continuous Monitoring
- 15:24 – Information Sharing: Private-to-Private and Public-to-Private
- 16:46 – Why Fraudsters Hop Between Institutions
- 18:22 – The Sigma360 and Fideo Intelligence Partnership
- 21:16 – Better Intelligence, Less Friction
- 23:10 – What's Next: Continuous Monitoring and Agentic AI
- 26:10 – Wrap-Up
Featured Guest
Chris Harrison is CEO of Fideo Intelligence, a Denver-based real-time identity intelligence company focused on helping institutions stop fraud and financial crime by verifying who's real and uncovering the networks behind them. He has spent three decades building large-scale data architectures for government, banks, and retailers.
Note: The episode intro features real news headlines read by an AI voice, with AI-generated visuals.
Music: "Minimalist (Neutral Focus)" by Sascha Ende (ende.app), licensed under CC BY 4.0.
